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Berlin's dark past becomes lively present
Cycling and Recycling in Berlin
Against the backdrop of the Third Reich's largest building, girls in bikinis drink beer and tan in the sun while a man windsurfs past on in-line skates.
This is probably not what der Führer had in mind.
In few other cities does the shadow of the past loom so largely over - and provide a fertile backdrop for - modern life as it does in Berlin. At the former Tempelhof Airport, for instance, the colossal terminal that Hitler built to impress and intimidate now is a sprawling, beloved public park where most people come to de-stress and meditate.
Throughout Berlin, buildings and spaces haunted by history are being reused and given new purpose in the present. Recycled buildings are not only home to some of the city's most popular cultural attractions, but they're also ideal places to begin to understand how - using the relics of its often tragic past - Berlin continues to reinvent itself for the future.
It's a metropolis that Mark Twain called "the newest city I have come across" - 120 years and three rebuildings ago.
Past is prologue
The ravages of World War II and the costs of reunification decades later left Berlin with the most debt of any German city, prompting Mayor Klaus Wowereit's famous 2004 description of his city as "poor but sexy."
Since then, Berlin's finances have not improved, but its many rundown and abandoned buildings are finding new life as everything from boutique shops to trendy restaurants to of-the-moment art galleries (including a few that are more of-the-moment than owners would like).
Some, like the old Jewish Girls' School - once used by the Nazis for deportations, now home to the acclaimed Pauly Saal restaurant and the Kosher Classroom cafe - have been developed over time by legal tenants.
Other buildings become de facto homes to an ever-changing roster of culturally savvy squatters, such as the Skalitzers gallery of street art - which recently had to relocate to an abandoned 150-year-old railway workshop after being kicked out of its last unofficial home. (It turns out the new location, which the gallery shares with shops, cafes and clubs, also is temporary, since Deutsche Bahn bought the site.)
This common scenario is why many of the city's hot spots can flourish one day and disappear the next as the buildings they inhabit are recycled yet again.
City of energy
The nightclub and restaurant at Kater Holzig, a sprawling wonderland of rooms in a former soap factory in West Berlin, have managed a few years of relative longevity.
Reservations are hard to come by at Kater Holzig's restaurant, Katerschmaus, where the walls are covered in graffiti and patrons can peer into the open kitchen to watch chefs create Argentine fillet or risotto with oyster mushrooms and fig compote. The food, it turns out, is worth the trek through the unmarked funhouse-like maze of courtyards and buildings and up four flights of stairs.
After dinner, my husband, Dan, and I head for the bar's riverfront lounge seats, making our way downstairs through a small room where a man onstage reads to a crowd, and past a wooden shack where couples are doing some form of two-step dance. We order beers and sit in the glow of the twinkling lights that illuminate the graffitied brick walls and sparkle off the river.
One of the dancers comes outside and taps at her cell phone while we debate whether to stay a while longer. She tells us we have to stay, that the party is just getting started. She says sometimes she comes for dinner, dances until sunrise, and then drinks beer by the river until noon. I tell her I'm too old to spend that much time at a bar, but she just laughs.
"You'll see," she says, "You don't want to leave ... and then suddenly it's the morning. You just forget about the time here."
I have to take her word for it. We have one more round of drinks and leave before midnight.
New and old mesh
Clärchens Ballhaus is more in sync with my internal clock.
By 8 p.m., the party at the 100-year-old, two-story dance hall is already in full swing. Strings of overhead lights lend a carnival feel to the expansive front beer garden, the space where the main building of the Ballhaus stood until the Allied bombs leveled it.
A second structure in back was salvageable, so the first floor was cleaned up and became the new centerpiece of the club, while the damaged ballroom above it was simply shuttered and left to gather dust for nearly 60 years, until the building changed hands in 2005.
The main floor holds a bar and restaurant that has a different style of music and dance each night, though its decor is stuck in the days of disco. Silver streamers drape the walls and a mirror ball hangs above the crowded dance floor where couples jitterbug to a 1940s big band song.
The upstairs ballroom, known as the Mirror Hall, is Marlene Dietrich in her later years; her beauty may have faded with time, but it's still clear that in her youth she was a knockout. It was reopened for special events after only minimal repairs and remains largely unchanged since the turn of the last century, but for a few cracks and a bullet hole or two.
Were it not for the room's scars, it'd be easy to imagine this place in the 1950s, before a wall split Berlin in two, or in the 1930s, before the war left the city a pile of rubble, or even in 1913, the year the dance hall opened. Today there are no bombs falling, the city is united, and the only thing that makes the building tremble is the music from below.
Back downstairs at Clärchens Ballhaus, a gray-haired couple (looking old enough to have been here when the bullet holes were made) owns the dance floor. They easily outshine the younger dancers, hipsters dressed in the same style of tweed their elders wore half a century ago.
Dan pulls me to the floor and we spin around like fools, and I think of the girl at Kater Holzig who said I'd forget about the time. She was wrong. I've only become more conscious of the winding path time takes in Berlin, how the new blends seamlessly into the old.
Park's unique past
The Nazi-built Tempelhof Airport terminal, once the largest building on Earth (now No. 4), was where Hitler envisioned staging air shows that would display the Third Reich's military prowess. Postwar, it served as a commercial airport and, in the yearlong Soviet blockade that began in 1948, it welcomed 1,500 flights per day during the Berlin Airlift. In just a few decades, it saw the best and worst of humanity.
When the airport was decommissioned in 2008, the grounds became the largest park in continental Europe and the terminal was turned into a center for special events, including fashion shows and music festivals.
Today the old runway signs partially obscured by overgrown grass and the hulking behemoth of the empty terminal give Tempelhofer Park a postapocalyptic look. It could be a set for a futuristic life-after-people movie - if it weren't for all the people. The massive park buzzes with activity.
On a slow jog around the park, we pass dozens of bikers and other runners, including a group of children racing around a makeshift track while cheering parents picnic nearby. Dogs play off leash in a small fenced area, a group sets up for a race under a tent topped with a Korean flag, and a family lights a small barbecue grill and readies a heaping platter of sausages. A toddler waddles across the runway, towed by the force of her brightly colored kite, and the bikini-clad girls on striped lounge chairs flip through their gossip magazines. The park today is full of life, and a sharp contrast to its intended purpose.
As with the rest of the city, the airport has a new life, not so much from an organized renovation as an organic evolution, based more on need and creativity than the structured approach that built it in the first place.
In Berlin, time doesn't just heal, apparently. It also relaxes.
If you go
Where to stay
Nhow Music Hotel: Stralauer Allee 3, +49 30 290 299 0, www.nhow-hotels.com/berlin/en/hotel. With 304 stylish rooms in a renovated warehouse in East Berlin near the Eastside Gallery. There's an on-site bar and restaurant. From $175 per night.
AirBnB has a large presence in Berlin as well. One bedroom apartments typically range from $60 to $100 per night.
Where to eat
Katerschmaus at Kater Holzig: Michaelkirchstraße23, +49 030 51 05 21 34, www.katerholzig.de/restaurant. Main dishes range $25-$35. Reservations recommended.
Alpenstueck: Gartenstraße 9, +49 030 217 516 46, cgi.alpenstueck.de/user-cgi-bin/?file=kop1.php. Traditional Southern German food, including veal ravioli and Wienerschnitzel. One Michelin star. Main dishes $20-$28.
Pauly Saal: Auguststraße 11-13, +49 30 33 00 60 70, paulysaal.com/en. German with global influences; lunch (the more budget-friendly option) and dinner. Main dishes $40-$52. Reservations recommended.
Mustafa's Gemüse Kebap: Mehringdamm 32, mustafas.de. Quintessential Berlin street food, the doner kebap is a pita filled with shaved meat (in this case chicken), veggies and special sauce. Starting at $3.25.
What to do
Kater Holzig: Michaelkirchstraße23, +49 030 51052134, www.katerholzig.de. Bar, nightclub and restaurant with several dining and drinking areas (including a beach bar in summer). Arrive early or make dinner reservations to bypass the line.
Clärchens Ballhaus: Auguststraße 24,+49 030 2829295, www.ballhaus.de. Live music and dancing nightly; also serves pizza and traditional German fare for lunch and dinner.
Alternative Berlin Street Art Tour: alternativeberlin.com/berlin-graffiti-workshop-and-street-art-tour. Runs street art tours that stop at Skalitzers Gallery and the area surrounding it.
Tempelhofer Park: www.tempelhoferfreiheit.de/en. Public park at the former Tempelhof Airport. Tours of the terminal building also available.
Skalitzers Gallery: Revaler Straße 99, Tor 4, +49 5115909731765, www.skalitzers.com. Open to the public daily and hosts special exhibitions of street art.
More information
Berlin Tourism Office: www.visitberlin.de/en.
Katie Hammel is a freelance writer living in San Francisco. E-mail: email@example.com


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A Sandwich a Day: The Short Rib Sandwich at Bluebird Sky
A new sandwich every day.
In this great city of ours, one could eat a different sandwich every day of the year—so that's what we'll do. Here's A Sandwich a Day, our daily look at sandwiches around New York. Got a sandwich we should check out? Let us know. —The Mgmt.
We've already told you how much we love breakfast at Bluebird Sky—now it's time to talk lunch. The cafe's generously portioned short rib sandwich ($10) certainly lived up to our expectations. Served on a crispy baguette, the short rib is braised in wine and topped with onion jam and gruyere cheese. The addition of horseradish gives the sandwich a nice bite and the meat is tender and richly flavorful. I did find myself wishing for a little arugula to add some brightness and balance out the heavier ingredients but at the end of the day, it's hard to find fault with a massive pile of delicious meat making its way into my belly. I'm all for more short rib and brisket on NYC lunch menus, and I found this to be a sandwich well worth trying. And finishing.
Bluebird Sky
121 Baxter Street, New York NY 10013 (map)
All products linked here have been independently selected by our editors. We may earn a commission on purchases, as described in our affiliate policy.

subset: commoncrawl


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Harvest Moon Save the Homeland (Playstation 2) (Pre-Played - Game Only)
$ 8.99
In the past, Harvest Moon was more of a farming simulation with a little bit of role-playing added in. Harvest Moon: Save the Homeland takes the series in a new direction, by offering a deeper and more robust role-playing experience. The object of this game is to save the village from being turned into a resort. Unlike previous Harvest Moon titles, Harvest Moon: Save the Homeland has a stronger focus on developing relationships with the townsfolk, and it offers nine unique ways to complete your task.


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Red Sox, Marlins simmer down after lineup flap
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FORT MYERS, Fla. >> The lineup flap between the Boston Red Sox and Miami Marlins seems to have simmered down.
The Marlins were upset last Thursday when the World Series champion Red Sox sent a team full of minor leaguers to an exhibition game in Jupiter.
Jackie Bradley Jr. was the only Boston regular who made the 21/2-hour trip across the state. Road teams are supposed to have at least four top-tier players in the lineup.
The Marlins had raised ticket prices for the game, which was scoreless when it was stopped early because of rain.
The Marlins complained to Major League Baseball. The Red Sox were disciplined by MLB — a fine is usually the penalty.
Boston general manager Ben Cherington apologized to the Marlins for the watered-down lineup. Over the weekend, Red Sox owner John Henry sent a tweet that read: "They should apologize for their regular season lineup."


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Crystal White Pearl
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Another From the Dustbin – Odd Things About Similing
February 5, 2010
Following the lead of the good rabbi doktor, I present to you a piece previously written –
Odd Things About Smiling
I am in my bathroom at home, the one I share with my brother. Before me, spread out like an altar, lies my sink and counter space. The surfaces are white, and I think Formica, the type, which makes it so you can never quite clean off all the little beard hairs, which drives your latent OCD nuts. Beneath the sink and beside the drawers is a small cabinet, one used to keeping things we no longer use. In it, lie scattered, impractical cups from my childhood. They have holes on the side and the bottom and a spout, and they all have faces.
I am in the bath, and I am six years old. I do my best to palpate the shampoo into my improbable hair, and my father brings the cup to the side of the tub. As soon as he fills the yellow cup with slightly-too-hot water, it descends in streams through the bottom holes of the vessel. They continue to descend, in rivulets down my face, carrying away the lovingly applied shampoo from my head and hair. The commercials tell you that it is ok to laugh and giggle and open your eyes wide to the miracle of cranial laundering. But they lie. Even when the "safe" shampoo gets in your eyes, it stings. My father brings the green cup to the side of the tub, the one with a hole where his mouth should be. As soon as it fills with water, the clear liquid flows in a constant, giving stream. My eyes sting and tear, but I persist in smiling nonetheless, marveling at its pure gift.
Above the sink and counters and beside my memories is the mirror. Its galvanized surface is pockmarked with age, like an unlucky teenager, but it still reflects well enough, especially when my brother and I remember to wash the enormous thing before Shabbat. To me, in this house, the bathroom mirror is not merely a tool for hygiene and general upkeep; it is a co-conspirator, an ally, a confidante. All throughout my life, it has silently supported all my poor decisions. It has been nine years since my flirtation with hair gel in the seventh grade, but the mirror has never brought up my attempt to wish my unimaginable hair into an attractive force of follicle might. I would be cool when I left the room, and the mirror let me believe most things.
I think that when we were younger, more things had faces. Girls and boys are swaddled in blankets, cocooned by their stuffed animals and dolls. I had a collection of many, many actions figures. We could also see faces – partners in conversation, playmates – amidst most things we found surrounding us. Trees were always old men or young dryads; the gnarls of branches or smoothness of bark or roughness of bark could so easily be reorganized by any number of senses. (Are all children synaesthetic and then later forget?) Seeing faces everywhere, it's no wonder kids are always smiling or crying or both.
Mirrors are a stage, a nexus with the other world. I, like most young men eagerly exploring my power before myself, frantically wailed about to songs I loved, made muscles, critiqued my body. I performed before myself, bereft of childhood's ubiquitous audience. Often, I would also simply stand and smile, my eyes shifting like sand in the hourglass. Sometimes, they would join in, but at other times my face felt like dusk, slowly fading, painfully beautiful. Tentative at best. Sometimes, I have been hit by the strange urge to have a cold sore at all times, to be forced to smile so it hurts a little. I rejoiced before myself in my childhood home, and the mirror tried to give me my face as a gift. I smiled, but I had nowhere to put it.


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A Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force spoke to students on Tuesday, February 16 as part of the STEMM Idol Speaker Series.
Molly Wakeling is also a physicist and graduate student working on her Master's degree in nuclear engineering at the Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT).
"I have always loved science," Wakeling shared. "What I love about science is that there is still so much to know but we can do the experiments to figure it out. I love that there is a lot of beauty in it as well."
Wakeling is a native of Spokane, Washington and graduated Cum Lade from Washington State University with a Bachelor's degree in Physics. While working on her undergraduate degree, Wakeling spent three summers as an intern at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California doing nuclear physics experiments.
"It's challenging but if I wouldn't do something as challenging, it wouldn't be as fun," Wakeling told the students.
After graduating from AFIT in March, Wakeling plans to be a LADAR (laser radar) research scientist.
"I've been involved with a lot of nuclear physics the past couple years so I'm looking forward to exploring a new area of physics and working on a technology that benefits the military."
Students can view Wakeling's presentation here.
Are you interested in becoming a CJ STEMM Idol Speaker Series presenter? Contact Meg Draeger, CJ STEMM coordinator, at (937) 461-3740 x487, or at email@example.com.


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CLEVELAND, Ohio (Aug. 26, 2010)— Middough Inc., a top ranking U.S. architectural, engineering and management services company, announces the celebration of its 60th anniversary. This announcement was made by President and CEO, Ronald R. Ledin, PE.
When William V. Middough first opened the company in 1950, he based it on strong personal values where honesty and trust would be his guide and his word and handshake were as good as gold. These founding values remain true today and are the cornerstone of Middough's success.
As Middough celebrates its 60th year in business, the company has developed many long-term relationships with its clients over the years. Middough is proud to have its very first client from the metals industry since its doors opened, as a key customer today, as well as many other long-term signature clients. Middough is proud to continue its legacy of being the company known for that special talent and expertise at providing innovation and "know-how" beyond traditional architectural, engineering and construction services.
"Middough has loyal clients and strives to provide each one with the one-on-one attention they so richly deserve," states Ledin. "While maintaining our focus on expanding our client base, Middough has also invested in development and training, has acquired new technologies, expanded its executive leadership team and has moved into new geographic markets to continue the company's growth to record levels."
Middough has been able to diversify by expanding its industry base. As a top company within the industries it serves, Middough has grown to a full-service organization with more than 800 associates and has an integrated network of regional and local offices specializing in delivering complex process and facilities.
Notable accomplishments:
- Formally founded as W. Vance Middough & Associates in 1950
- Signed its first client who is still a client today, ArcelorMittal (formerly LTV Steel) in 1950
- Assisted in the decision and implementation of the conversion of the Great Lakes Towing Co. fleet of tugboats from steam to diesel in the 1950s
- Provided engineering services for the conversion of the Staten Island Ferry's from steam to diesel in 1965
- Designed the power distribution system for Newton Falls, Ohio in the 1960s
- William V. Middough is formally recognized in the "Who's Who" in the 1960s
- Middough performs international projects in the 1970s
- Ronald R. Ledin, PE becomes president and CEO in 1978
- Company relocates its corporate office to East 13th Street, Cleveland, Ohio in 1983
- Company expands by opening two additional offices in Chicago, IL and Toledo, Ohio in 1995
- Middough purchases MicroTech in Corning, NY in 1998
- Company expands its offices to the east, south and west in the 2000s.
- Services the pharmaceutical and biotechnology markets in 2005
- Middough develops a major projects group in 2007
- Hit 800 employee milestone mark in 2009
- Celebrated 20 years being below the average OSHA Total Recordable Injury Rate (TRIR) for its Safety Management Program in 2010
- Introduced its first brand campaign "Performance You Trust™" in 2010
- Opened its newest office location in Northwest Indiana, bringing its total office locations to 13, in 2010
"Our goal is to build loyalty by delivering exceptional performance, quality and cost efficiencies to our clients," expresses Ledin. "It's this client focus for more than 60 years that has been central to our growth and has been an important factor in establishing Middough's market leadership."
As it begins its seventh decade, Middough has become a pivotal force in the industries it serves. The company's growth plan includes diversification into new markets, expansion of current market base, geographic expansion and the establishment of new locations, solicitation of larger projects, increased strength and flexibility of project management utilizing Middough Advanced Project Procedures (M.A.P.P.), as well as continuing to provide its clients with performance they can trust.
About Middough Inc.
For more than 60 years, Middough Inc. has been recognized for its performance and leadership as an international company in architecture, engineering and management services. With major offices in Cleveland, Atlanta, Chicago, Houston, Philadelphia, Phoenix, St. Louis and Toledo and additional offices nationally comprising more than 800 professionals, Middough provides a full-range of traditional and specialized design, technical and management services worldwide.
For more information about Middough, visit www.middough.com.


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|15.6", Full HD (1920 x 1080), 144 Hz, IPS
|Pixel density
|141.21 ppi
|Panel Type
|1920 x 1080
|Becomes "Retina" from
|24 inches (62 cm)
At first, you may think that Acer is offering the same hardware in different packages since there are three different Acer models with GTX 1060 but all of them are priced differently and have a different target audience. The Aspire V 15 and V 17 Nitro BE notebooks, for example, are not gaming-oriented anymore. They provide just about the same performance as the Predator lineup but try to appeal to a more sophisticated type of user looking for extra power on the go without sacrificing portabi[...]Read the full review


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The Game On Japanese TV ""Maybe Ill Get An Obama Tattoo On My Whole Back"" [Very Short Interview]
The Game talking about his Tattos (On Japanese TV)/ Shout out to Desh
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Bridge Night at the Library
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Bridge Night at the Library
Know how to play Bridge and want to practice? Come on over for an evening of Bridge! We'll provide the card tables and cards. Note: There will not be an instructor present at this program. This is an opportunity for people to play and practice.
Free program.
- Date:
- Thursday, July 25, 2019
- Time:
- 6:00pm - 8:00pm
- Time Zone:
- Central Time - US & Canada (change)
- Location:
- Meeting Room B
- Categories:
- Adult Crafts & Fun
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The Central Connecticut women's track and field team competed at the Yale Invitational on Saturday in New Haven, CT. The Blue Devils were led by sophomore Ronea Saunders who placed first in the long jump (5.36m) and in the high jump (1.70m).
Junior Shelby Tuttle also turned in an impressive performance for Central. For the second consecutive meet, only her second as a Blue Devil, Tuttle broke the CCSU record in the 60 meter hurdles with a time of 8.91. Last week, Tuttle ran a 9.22 at the Army Crowell Open to make her first mark on the Central record book. Tuttle also placed sixth in the triple jump to earn her second of CCSU's 11 top-10 finishes.
In the high jump, Saunders was followed by senior Ahj Meeks, who came in sixth clearing 1.55 meters. Classmate Rachel Dombroski set a new collegiate personal-best in the 60 meter dash, crossing the finish line in 8.17 seconds for seventh place.
In addition to the Blue Devils' success in the individual events, Central also achieved three top-10 spots in relay events alone. Central took gold in the 4x400 meter relay with a time of 3:59.49, and earned third in the 4x800 meter relay, crossing the finish line in 10:09.59. CCSU also took seventh in the 4x400 relay with a time of 4:09.07.
Other key performances for the Blue Devils included freshman Chelse Terry, who placed 10th in the weight throw (12.33m) and sophomore Chantelle Deer, who also finished 10th in the 400 meter dash (1:00.53).
For complete meet results, click here.
The Blue Devils will return to action on Friday, January 18 at the Albany Great Dane Classic in New York, NY.


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29177 Northwestern Hwy. (Franklin Rd.) Send to Phone
248-799-2800 | Make Restaurant Reservations | Menu
OpenLunch & Dinner daily
- Parking available
- Dress code: Casual
- Heart-healthy dishes
- Kid-friendly
- Outdoor dining
* Click here for rating key
: Zoup! soup bar offers a dozen daily selections from a rotating repertoire of more than 200 steaming varieties. Soups are labeled as low-fat, vegetarian, spicy and dairy-free. Gluten-free is also available. All are ladled up with a side of chunky sourdough or multi-grain bread. We warm up to the zesty black bean, shrimp and corn chowder, Italian squash, down-home shrimp bisque and chicken potpie soup, complete with crust, but are always open to the daily specials as well. You can taste-test until you find the potage that suitably piques your taste buds. Eat in or take home, and combine your soup with sandwiches like the chicken Greek or tuna salad with lemon and capers. The list of salads includes the traditional like chicken Caesar and Greek, and such selections as summer berry with mozzarella. And for those who'd like to make their own, Zoup! has hormone-free, GMO-free, and gluten-free with no fats and no cholesterol soup stocks for sale.
Check GAYOT's list of
Top Kosher Wines.
Wine of the Week Review by GAYOT


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Product Description
Ridden and appreciated by the entire team, this surf inspired concept has a loose skatey feel, yet grips allowing serious wake shredding. The true Fish experience is created by a shorter and wider profile that lowers swing weight and provides boat loads of solid pop. The unique shape combined with lifted variable edges allows it to release and rotate exceedingly well. Classic rocker and spiral v-bottom lends predictability, generates powerful turns and offers pillow soft landings the novice to expert will enjoy. For a true fun feel, ride this shape 10cm shorter than your traditional setup. Shakas all around. Features: Performance Full Shape - Down Size 10cm-Short and wide. Surface area focused in the middle of the board for un-paralleled pop, minimal swing weight, easy to maneuver.
Spiral V Double Concave Hull-Not the standard V Hull. The V shaped hull spirals or turns down progressively towards the tail. Helps initiate turns and generates turning power. Softens landings by breaking the water at first contact. Feel the difference.
C-4 Fin Setup-Four canted fins angled for effectiveness and placed for precision. Fast, loose, and have the holding power to carve like mad.
Lifted Variable Edge-Theres no catch - Lifted and soft in the middle - Forgiving when neutral, spins faster off the wake, lands still spinning - Sharpens as it nears the tail - Locks and holds edge into the water when weight is transferred into the edging position - Clean and catch free sliding.
Classic Rocker-Smooth, easy going rocker youve grown to love. The original fast approach simply feels good at any level and is appreciated by all. Specs:


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Sweet, sour, spicy, nutty, smoky, crunchy roasted aubergine salad
Throughout my 20's I had infrequent contact with a self-indulgent and woeful lady who recurrently stressed to me that having children is the hardest thing in the world. She meant raising them. She would stand over me as I slumped into the sofa, and she wafted an overstating finger above me whilst popping eyes glared at me, 'it's so hard'. I focused my eyes on the coarse hairs that grew under her chin and listened. I nodded as she told me how there is immense and overflowing love but there is no time even for a facemask or money left to buy clothes. I looked over at my husband and my expression clearly whispered, 'I will still buy clothes'.
But look, I thought, people all over the world are popping them out. People in towns, cities and remote villages manage it and educated or uneducated, rich or poor, young or old…people all over the world and for as long as time has existed have been having children. So really, come on…
As my little one played with his friends in our garden and I looked at his sweaty little face reddening underneath layers of gritty sun cream. Underneath the wide forehead he gets from his daddy is a face that is so much like mine but that's not the thing that sinks my heart and ties it in a knot.
Tiny friends rushed around busily and purposefully with his toys as he watched. One snatched his ball as he watched, as kids often do at this age. My little one let her and decided to go and water some plants instead until another friend announced that he would do it instead. But that was OK and my two year old headed for the trampoline but alas his was bounced off. He quietly returned to me and tucked himself under my arm, 'mumma I want my ball, it's mine'. The bitter-sweet irony, as I could almost feel the sand under my feet on a school trip. I felt the pressure inside, even as a toddler as I was worried that my parents would be disappointed that I wasn't as lively or vivacious as the other children or lacked the confidence to climb through the tunnels or jump off the bars as they were doing. I remember sitting near the teachers and watching the sand tumble through my feet and clearly feeling that somehow there was a waste here but I was too young to really understand the concept of money. I know I should talk to guests when they arrived at our home, when my parents told me to even more so, but I was too shy to make conversation and just willed them to turn their loud and animated interrogation off.
And here we are again. A nice boy that I made nice, to some degree, as his primary carer…but now, how to instil some personal robustness or survival instinct in him? At what point do my own experiences of the world become his perceptions? I don't want my experiences to dirty his mind…and for someone who wouldn't talk look at me now…I talk a lot, in front of crowds.
Here is to the bitter-sweet, hot and cool of life. A salad that tingles and zings with each mouthful of crunch from the beansprouts and alfalfa, heat from the chillies, silky smoky aubergine, nutty almond bites and sweet kecap manis. It's loaded. I like loaded. Juicy orange and green tomatoes burst in the mouth…it's all going on in this healthy plate. Life eh?
Ingredients to serve two as a main dish or four as a side dish
3 medium-large aubergines
4 good pinches of alfalfa sprouts
A couple of handfuls of almonds
100g beansprouts
An onion, thinly sliced
100g orange tomatoes, sliced
100g green tomatoes, sliced
2 tbsp. sesame oil
2 tbsp. sesame seeds
The dressing
10 tbsp. rice wine vinegar
6 tbsp. kecap Manis
3 tbsp. sriracha sauce
- You will need to coat the aubergines in oil and roast in the oven at 180 degrees for approximately 45 minutes or until they are shrivelling and soft enough to pierce. Allow them to cool before removing the skin and scooping out the pulp and mash it lightly on a large plate.
- Heat the sesame oil in a non-stick pan and add the onions, beansprouts and almonds and stir fry 3-4 minutes and then turn off the heat.
- Make the dressing by mixing the ingredients and smoothing any lumps with a fork
- Layer the aubergine pulp, then on top add the tomatoes, beansprouts mixture, alfalfa and the drizzle over as much dressing as you like.
- Serve with flatbread and share (try).


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With the ongoing celebrating of the Civil War Sesquicentennial, I decided not to search out articles that chronicled our division as a nation but would commemorate of our unity in the Ozarks. I believe these next few articles point to the way to healing and the restoration that took years to occur in the Ozarks.
In 1902, a committee was formed in Baxter County, Arkansas, to not only bring together citizens of this region, but give credence to the old Civil War soldiers in their sunset years. This too is the origin of the current Baxter County Fair. Though some of this has been chronicled in past newspapers and books, I believe I have found other articles that have not been published since 1902 – 04.
As I have mentioned in the past, it is truly difficult for me to point the accusing finger wholly at North or South. At times, both sides possessed accolades tribute, and other times each held the disdain of atrocities which seemed to prevail on both sides. However, after decades had passed and the tender wounds had begun to mend, there were men willing to be leaders for the next generation.
I believe history has the potential to change us.
I believe we can be a catalyst to change history by learning from the tragic lessons of the past.
How can we change our history?
Reconstruction will never succeed without Reconciliation.
The day Reconciliation is initiated...is the day History Changes.
As we walk the path of life, there will be opportunities to mend broken relationships. I believe the Father in Heaven can bring about these opportunities of reconciliation no matter our history.
After reading these next few articles, I believe it may be this very point of view the old soldiers of Baxter County would have us to grasp in these days. I believe you too, Dear Reader, can walk away with this same point of view. If this is so, maybe these old soldiers have accomplished their task they initiated in 1902.
This migration from Division to Unity is a welcome commodity in our Ozarks' History.
Two days for Pleasure!
Reunion of the Blue and the Gray
MOUNTAIN Home, Ark.,
Friday and Saturday,
August 1 and 2
On Friday, Aug., 1, PROF MURGLE of Tioga, Ill., will make a
Thrilling Balloon Ascension and Parachute Leap.
The exercises will consist of music, both Vocal and Instrumental,
Oratory by the best talent in North Arkansas, Base Ball contest be-
tween two crack teams. Fire Works at Night. There will be
swings, Lemonade Stands and Refreshments generally.
Everyone is invited to come and with well filled baskets, cheerful
hearts and thinking minds. Come and let us have a glorious time.
By order of Executive Committee.
End of Advertisement
Reunion of the Blue and the Gray
MOUNTAIN Home, Ark.,
Friday and Saturday,
August 1 and 2
Address of welcome…….………..………..………………………Z. M. Horton.
Response……………….….Capt. B. F. Bodenhamer, Maj. H. H. Hilton.
Music…."Yankee Doodle," "Dixie"…………..…………………………..Band.
1:30 p. m. Music
Address………………………………………………………..…….Hon. J. C. Floyd.
Address………………………………………………………..….….Hon. Chas Cole.
Balloon ascension and parachute leap……........…………..Prof. Murgle.
Baseball Game……………….............……….Yellville vs. Mountain Home.
End of Advertisement
The picnic at Mtn. Home Aug. 1st and 2nd was a complete success. Early Friday morning, the people began to gather from every point of the compass and by 10 o'clock the town was full to overflowing with plenty of folks at the grounds to keep the four swings and six lemonade stands running full blast. At 10 o'clock a procession was formed on the public square headed by a float consisting of four wagons, pulled by a ten horse power steam engine. On the float was seated the young ladies and little girls representing the several states and territories, and the boys representing the signers of the Declaration of Independence, all adorned with the red, white and blue, surmounted by the American flag. This float truly represented the beauty and chivalry of young America. Following the float came the old soldiers, both the blue and gray. Next a long line of citizens and visitors. The procession wended its way to the picnic grounds on the public school campus. Arriving at the campus, after music by the band and "Hail Columbia" and "Star Spangled Banner" by the chorus class, Rev. H. H. Hilton invoked the blessing of heaven upon the gathering. The crowd was then addressed by the Hon. Z. M. Horton, who took for his subject, "The greatness of our country." He maintained this was the greatest government in the history of the world and that it was greater than any political party or faction, that it was safe in the hands of any political party and had come to stay. That it was equal to any emergency and capable of settling any question that could arise. In military strength it was invincible. He declared that any government that could subdue and strike from the map of the world the "Confederate State of America," could bid defiance to any or all other governments. He closed with a tribute to the soldiers of both armies and especially Robert E. Lee, whom he had dominated the vanquished victor. Mr. Horton's address was timely and well received by the audience. After Mr. Horton's speech the crowd was dismissed for dinner. Everybody came with well filled baskets. There was enough food for all and to spare. The amount of eatables on the ground both days is conclusive evidence of the prosperous condition of our people. After dinner the crowd was entertained by good music and an able and eloquent speech by Hon. J. C. Floyd, the gifted orator from Marion county. Among other things he referred at some length to our vast mineral wealth, reviewing the various measures that led step by step to its development and made Baxter county the most prominent of all its competitors on the mineral map drawn by Prof. Branner, the best geologist in the world. Mr. Floyd's address was well timed, instructive and delighted his vast audience.
After the speech of Mr. Floyd, the match game between the baseball teams of Mtn. Home and Yellville was to be the feature of the afternoon, but the shower of rain caused it to be postponed till the next afternoon, as did also the balloon ascension, which was to have taken place at 4 p.m.
On Saturday, the 2nd day, the crowd was entertained in the forenoon by able and eloquent addresses by Mr. Joe Deatherage and Prof. L. A. Morton.
Prof. Morton has accepted the position of principal in the Mountain Home College, and came just in time to meet the big crowd and get acquainted. He needs no better introduction to our people and the address delivered by him on that occasion. On the manner in which he has met our people and taken to his work, we predict that the success of the school under his management is assured.
After Prof. Morton's address the crowd was treated to splendid recitations by some of those splendid elocutionists for which Mtn. Home has become celebrated, notably Miss Annie Simpson and Miss Hazel Brown.
The crowd then witnessed the balloon ascension and parachute leap by Prof. Murgle. This was a great feature and was closely watched from the starting of the inflation until the ascension was made and the aeronaut safely landed.
Dinner was then announced and was as plentiful as on the previous day.
Dinner over the crowd divided, part going to the ball game and the others remaining to hear the political discussions between the candidates for governor. Hon. H. H. Meyers, (Clayton Republican) opened the discussion, followed by Hon. T. M. Humphreys, democrat, of Fayetteville, representing Gov. Davis, who was unable to be here. Myers closed the debate with a 30 minutes speech. By this time the crowd was weary, but listened to Judge Greaves (insurgent republican), who represented his side of the case in a half hour speech.
All the speakers are fluent talkers and made hard hits at each other, eliciting applause whenever a good point was made. But the people were out for enjoyment and seemed to take very little interest in the discussion. It is an old axiom that a "a fool can ask questions that puzzles a wise man to answer." There was one in the crowd that undertook the role of questioner while Judge Humphreys was speaking, but was soon silenced by a good natured, witty reprimand.
There were 2,500 to 3,000 people in attendance each day, perhaps the largest crowd ever assembled in Mtn. Home. It was the most orderly and well-behaved gathering of its size ever known in the place, and many say the best they ever saw anywhere. There was no drunkenness, quarreling or boisterous conduct, and nothing to mar the general good will that seemed to prevail all minds. Everybody seemed to enjoy themselves and go away feeling glad that they came.
End of Article
The Ball Game.
The Yellville boys were "too many" for the home nine, as might have been expected. The home nine were "just jumped up" for the occasion and had only two or three days practice, while the Yellville team is an old one and well drilled. However there was some good work done by the home club. John Harlan was by odds the best player on the ground, and if the catcher could have held the ball he pitched the game would have been closer than it was 42 to 6 in favor of Yellville. As it was Harlan "fanned" 13 in the game and would have got more of 'em but for being hard hit on the arm by the Yellville pitcher. Good feeling prevailed and an ambition was aroused in Mtn. Home that we hope will culminated the organization and maintenance of a home baseball team willing and able to cross bats with any of our neighbors.
End of Article
The North Arkansas United Veterans Association of the Blue and Gray.
Among stated features of the picnic program, none was more completely carried out than the organizing of "The Blue and Gray," with thirty-one charter members adopting the following constitution and by-laws:
Section 1. This organization shall be known as The North Arkansas United Veterans Association of the Blue and Gray.
Section 2. As a qualification for membership the applicant shall offer satisfactory evidence that he was a regularly enlisted soldier in the Federal and Confederate army, during our civil war or in our war with Mexico.
Section 3. The prime object of this organization is to encourage, cultivate and strengthen that sincere relation of loyal and fraternal friendship which should ever exist between us as Americans, although representatives of two once opposing armies; earnestly blending our humble efforts in eliminating any and all feelings of animosity that may exist with references to our said civil war.
Section 4. This organization is entirely non-political, and is in no sense intended to control, modify or influence the opinions of its members on any of the present or current political issues of the day.
Section 5. The officers of this association shall consist of one president, two vice-presidents, one secretary and one treasurer, who shall hold their respective office for a term of one year or until their successors are elected and qualified.
Section 6. it shall he duty of the president to preside at all meetings and perform all duties usually incumbent upon such officers.
Section 7. It shall be the duty of the secretary to keep record of all regular proceedings, and conduct all correspondence of the association; providing himself suitable record book, stationary, etc., with funds obtained by written order of the president drawn upon the treasurer.
Section 8. It shall be the duty of the treasurer to collect all annual dues, to have charge of all funds of the association and make complete financial report at each meeting thereof.
Section 9. That for the purpose of defraying incidental and other expenses there shall be paid annually in advance by each member as annual membership dues the sum of twenty-five cents.
Section 10. That the following list of officers duly elected, this organization is hereby declared permanent:
President - B. F. Bodenhamer.
First Vice President – L. A. McPhearson.
Second Vice President – H. G. Shearer.
Treasurer – A. J. Truman.
Secretary – J. A. Surby. Buffalo, Arkansas.
Executive Committee: Wesley Barnett, Robt. M. Hancock, Mart Bodenhamer, E. C. Cook, Sr., and W. D. White.
Next meeting to be 1 p.m. on first Saturday in October, 1902, at Mountain Home, and during which rally there will be organized a camp of the Sons of Veterans of the Blue and Gray. Meantime, call at drug store and enroll your names, young men, with your comrade "Dick" Cowan, giving descriptive data to facilitate the work of organizing.
End of Article
Expression of Public Sentiment.
Editor Bulletin: Responsive to numerous earnest solicitations, and with heartfelt assurance that we voice sincere sentiment of all concerned, it is highly gratifying to publish the fact that without one accident or act of disorderly conduct worth mention, throughout two long days, the promiscuous assembly of about 3000 sociable, intelligent people of North Arkansas principally of Baxter county, really enjoyed the complete carrying out of a picnic program at Mountain Home, August 1st and 2nd , 1902.
W. J. Baker, H. W. Redus, A. J. Truman, R. H. Hudson. Executive Committee.
End of Article
The Reunion of the Blue and Gray was a total success and continued as an annual event. Two years later, this next letter of praise to the editor of The Baxter Bulletin came from a spectator from across the state-line...Prestonia, Missouri, in Ozark County.
With all due of respect, this letter was written with poor grammar and spelling; nevertheless, I believe it was penned with sincerity from the heart of a gentleman from Prestonia. I will admit, the first time I read it, I my eyes were straining and my mind was in a whirl trying to figure out what this gentleman was trying to say. But looking back at this time period in Ozark' History, a public education was not afforded to everyone in this region. Hard times required tough choices, and its' settlers had to work hard in order to scrape out an existence. Therefore, as we read this last article, let us thank the Father in Heaven for those who have sacrificed many things in the past that we may afford the life we have today.
A Prestonia, Mo., Spectator.
The picknick at Mtn. Home, your town, is what I want to tel about. My wife told me if I'd sta at home frida and keap the chickins out of the garden, I mout go saturday to the picknick. She and the chaps went. She sent Gim bak frida nite so I could go saturda. I axed Gim who was their. He said ever boddy. Wel sur, I found out bot bein their Saturda that Gim didn't no, cause ever boddy was their and ever boddy fotch somebody with them, then thar was lots from our county, besides them. Then them foaks from Maryon and Izzard County, what has so many babys thay was their, and thay brout the fokes and their babys what lived tother side of them. Oh I gist wisht I'd had the larnin so I cood have counted um. I axed for U, tha sade U was not thar. U ediiter I mean. I node U had the larnin and cood count um, then you cood told everboddy how many was their through the Bulletin. I believe I and ever boddy else would node U caz tha sed them pictors that lade thick on the platform and all over the ground their was sum pritin on it too. I coodent read it but sum seed it was the program whot was on it. I wish all of our county foakes had bin their to seed everybody caze never seed so many at Gainsvil nor no other place in Ozzark County.
I'll tell it as it comes to mind. Next was a joke on myself. Thar was a little boy, guess he was acomin two ears old, was lost, come hugin round me legs, thout I was his dad, atter a while he seed I was not but favored him, caze he then looked around and broak to one of the ugliest that I seed that day and some one said we favored. The way I felt I had soon staid at home and minded the chickens out of the garden. Nother thing I was like the Irishman that went to see a sitty but coodent see it for the houses, so I coodent see the foakes at the picknick for the people bein in the way. U all has got the best foaks down thar I ever seed. No fussin, I never heard a cuss word nor bad word all day. All laffin and gassen with their heads up steppin like a blind horse and acted more like tha was lookin for rain. Everthing there was good and nice. Good speakin, good lemonade stands, good show, good grub, good water, good musick, good racin, good throwin, and thought ever boddy felt gooder, looked gooder, acted gooder, dressed gooder and was gooder caze I felt like a sheep at a shootin match. That day at Mountain Home will be in memory til I have to fall in line at the roll above. I wish we could all meet again in Mountain Home then meet in a higher home afterwards.
"Advertisement: Blue & Gray Picnic." The Baxter Bulletin. (11 July 1902) 6.
"Advertisement: Blue & Gray Picnic." The Baxter Bulletin. (18 July 1902) 6.
"Advertisement: Blue & Gray Picnic." The Baxter Bulletin. (25 July 1902) 6.
"Advertisement: Blue & Gray Picnic." The Baxter Bulletin. (01 Aug., 1902) 6.
"Advertisement: Blue & Gray Picnic." The Baxter Bulletin. (25 July 1902) 6.
"Advertisement: Blue & Gray Picnic." The Baxter Bulletin. (01 Aug., 1902) 6.
"The Ball Game." The Baxter Bulletin (8 Aug., 1902) 4.
"Expression of Public Sentiment." The Baxter Bulletin (8 Aug., 1902) 7.
"Expression of Public Sentiment." The Baxter Bulletin (8 Aug., 1902) 7.
"Organized: The North Arkansas United Veterans Association of the Blue and Gray" The Baxter Bulletin (8 Aug., 1902) 7.
"Our Two Days Picnic." The Baxter Bulletin (8 Aug., 1902) 4.
" A Prestonia, Mo., Spectator." The Baxter Bulletin (2 Sept., 1904)2 -3.
" A Prestonia, Mo., Spectator." The Baxter Bulletin (2 Sept., 1904)2 -3.


text:
Written by Sarah
If you follow me on Twitter, you've probably seen me talking about the 3D nightmare mo-cap monsters of The Adventures of Tintin, the adaptation of the mid-century Herge comics (does anyone even know who/what Tintin is these days, and do they really care if they do?) being brought to "life" on film by directors Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson (they co-directed via video conferencing because that's totally not going to backfire). I say "life" because while the point of motion-capture animation is to render photo-realistic cartoons, what mo-cap actually does is suck the soul out of a person and leave him a cold, empty shell, devoid of all humanity and free will.
When the robots rise against us and starting harvesting our organs for energy, we're going to look like mo-cap monsters.
The visuals in the first Tintin trailer are stunning. They really are. Mo-cap has come a long way in the last decade. It's beautiful to look at…until you get a clear shot of Tintin's dead, soulless eyes. Mo-cap can do a lot of things, most notably realize humanoid movement in non-human entities, like Gollum in Lord of the Rings. What mo-cap can't do, still, is create a non-terrifying human being. Show me a mo-cap "actor" and I will show you a creature that needs to be killed with fire till it's dead.
I question the point of a Tintin movie on several levels. I think modern audiences are too cynical for the kind of whimsical adventures Tintin and his dog, Milou, share. I'm not convinced there's a significant body of people demanding a Tintin movie (at least in America—there's a good chance this performs well overseas). I certainly don't think Tintin: Monsters in Fantasyland with Ships and Stuff will justify its eleventy-billion dollar budget. Also, I hate 3D. It serves no purpose. I have yet to see a movie that incorporates 3D in a way that makes it integral to the narrative and not just a visual gimmick that distracts from what is a likely and otherwise sh*t movie (I'm looking at you, Tron: Legacy).
Tintin: The Movie Nobody Asked For is bringing its mo-cap monsters and 3D nightmarescape to theaters just in time for the holidays. So bring your family to the theater for a good old fashioned fright fest starring What Jamie Bell Would Look Like If He Sacrificed His Soul And Was Doomed To Wander The Earth For All Time.
Tintin the Monstrous
Written by Sarah


text:
Document Type
- Working Paper (3) (remove)
- Contagion (1)
- Deutsche Bundesbank (1)
- Deutschland (1)
- Geldpolitik (1)
- Geschichte 1970-1989 (1)
- I(2) analysis (1)
- Impulse Responses (1)
- Inflation (1)
- Monetary Policy (1)
- A cointegration model of money and wealth (2019)
- Extending the data set used in Beyer (2009) to 2017, we estimate I(1) and I(2) money demand models for euro area M3. After including two broken trends and a few dummies to account for shifts in the variables following the global financial crisis and the ECB's non-standard monetary policy measures, we find that the money demand and the real wealth relations identified in Beyer (2009) have remained remarkably stable throughout the extended sample period. Testing for price homogeneity in the I(2) model we find that the nominal-to-real transformation is not rejected for the money relation whereas the wealth relation cannot be expressed in real terms.
- Opting out of the great inflation: German monetary policy after the break down of Bretton Woods (2009)
- During the turbulent 1970s and 1980s the Bundesbank established an outstanding reputation in the world of central banking. Germany achieved a high degree of domestic stability and provided safe haven for investors in times of turmoil in the international financial system. Eventually the Bundesbank provided the role model for the European Central Bank. Hence, we examine an episode of lasting importance in European monetary history. The purpose of this paper is to highlight how the Bundesbank monetary policy strategy contributed to this success. We analyze the strategy as it was conceived, communicated and refined by the Bundesbank itself. We propose a theoretical framework (following Söderström, 2005) where monetary targeting is interpreted, first and foremost, as a commitment device. In our setting, a monetary target helps anchoring inflation and inflation expectations. We derive an interest rate rule and show empirically that it approximates the way the Bundesbank conducted monetary policy over the period 1975-1998. We compare the Bundesbank´s monetary policy rule with those of the FED and of the Bank of England. We find that the Bundesbank´s policy reaction function was characterized by strong persistence of policy rates as well as a strong response to deviations of inflation from target and to the activity growth gap. In contrast, the response to the level of the output gap was not significant. In our empirical analysis we use real-time data, as available to policy-makers at the time. JEL Classification: E31, E32, E41, E52, E58
- The dynamics of spillover effects during the european sovereign debt turmoil : [draft: october 29, 2012] (2012)
- In this paper we develop empirical measures for the strength of spillover effects. Modifying and extending the framework by Diebold and Yilmaz (2011), we quantify spillovers between sovereign credit markets and banks in the euro area. Spillovers are estimated recursively from a vector autoregressive model of daily CDS spread changes, with exogenous common factors. We account for interdependencies between sovereign and bank CDS spreads and we derive generalised impulse response functions. Specifically, we assess the systemic effect of an unexpected shock to the creditworthiness of a particular sovereign or country-specific bank index to other sovereign or bank CDSs between October 2009 and July 2012. Channels of transmission from or to sovereigns and banks are aggregated as a Contagion index (CI). This index is disentangled into four components, the average potential spillover: i) amongst sovereigns, ii) amongst banks, iii) from sovereigns to banks, and iv) vice-versa. We highlight the impact of policy-related events along the different components of the contagion index. The systemic contribution of each sovereign or banking group is quantified as the net spillover weight in the total net-spillover measure. Finally, the captured time-varying interdependence between banks and sovereigns emphasises the evolution of their strong nexus.


text:
By Andy Rubin, Google VP of Engineering, Android
Partnerships have been at the very heart of Android, the first truly open and comprehensive mobile platform, since we first introduced it with the Open Handset Alliance. Through close relationships with carriers, device manufacturers, developers, and others, Google is working to enable an open ecosystem for the mobile world by creating a standard, open mobile software platform. Today we're excited that, working with Adobe, we will be able to bring both AIR and Flash to Android.
Google believes that developers should have their choice of tools and technologies to create applications. By supporting Adobe AIR on Android we hope that millions of creative designers and developers will be able to express themselves more freely when they create applications for Android devices. More broadly, AIR will foster rapid and continuous innovation across the mobile ecosystem.
Google is happy to be partnering with Adobe to bring the full web, great applications, and developer choice to the Android platform. Our engineering teams have been working closely to bring both AIR and Flash Player to Google's mobile operating system and devices. The Android platform is enjoying spectacular adoption, and we expect our work with Adobe will help that growth continue.
We also look forward to all the innovative content and applications created for Android and Flash. Join us at Google I/O in May to learn more about our work together with Adobe to open up the world of Flash on mobile devices.
Originally posted on the Adobe.com website.


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Ability to generate Training Reports from your Strava data
Having just worked my way through my 2013 training data to find out my weekly, monthly and total training amounts, it occurred to me that it would be handy to be able to generate these as reports automagically within Strava.
- Weekly, monthly, annual and all time reports for any week/month/year.
- Report describes total mileage, training time, number of activites, HR maximum/average etc. - all the usual information.
- Reports can be activity type specific (one report for runs, one for rides) or aggregated.
- Users configure which report types they want generated automagically (and optionally emailed to them) based on period and activity type.
- Custom reports (specific date ranges, previous weeks/months/years etc,.) can be created ad-hoc if I wanted.
After all, we're using a site like Strava because we crave data and comparative competition - more data is exactly what we always want...


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Offering an incomparable level of service for groups of all sizes,
we guarantee the best London theatre ticket group deals in the West End.
We also offer group deals on pre-theatre dinners and exclusive show merchandise.
Book your London theatre group tickets now by searching all our shows below:
Alternatively, speak directly to a member of our dedicated sales team on the number below
to get the best deals and make your booking process as simple as possible.


text:
CENTER VALLEY, Pa. -- The Lehigh Valley Writing Project (LVWP) will host its annual Best Practices Conference from 8:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 26, at the Penn State Lehigh Valley campus in Center Valley, Pa.
The conference features interactive workshops and presentations for teachers to share professional teaching practices. The keynote presentation, "Mentor Texts and the Common Core," will be given by Rose Cappelli and Lynne Dorfman. Cappelli and Dorfman also will sign copies of their books during the conference.
Cappelli and Dorfman conduct workshops and in-services on the teaching of writing and have presented at KSRA, IRA, Reading Recovery, NCTE, and various state conferences around the country. They are the authors of Teaching Writing Domains with Mentor Texts, a resource guide for teachers published and distributed by Reading Matters, Inc., as well as Mentor Texts: Teaching Writing Through Children's LiteratureK-6, Nonfiction Mentor Texts: Teaching Informational Writing Through Children's Literature K-8, Poetry Mentor Texts: Making Reading and Writing Connections K-8, and a video, Writing with Mentors, all published by Stenhouse Publishers.
The cost of the conference is $45 and includes a continental breakfast and lunch. Teachers earn five ACT 48 hours for attending. To register for the conference, or for more information, visit www.lvwp.org or contact Nancy Coco at 610-285-5026 or email@example.com.


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More from the Not Topps Million vintage haul in lieu of a couple of jumbo packs. I don't know much about these vintage sets but its tough to argue with Ken Boyer. He may be my next vintage target behind Brock and Gibson.
Sunday, February 28, 2010
1958 Topps
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Topps Million: Back to the Junk
Friday, February 26, 2010
Flea Market Finds: The Great American Baseball Card Flipping, Trading and Bubble Gum Book
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Straggler Packs
What do you do when you see the last few packs in the box? Do you impulsively pick them up even if they weren't on your radar? I'm guilty. I pick them up knowing that they're just like any other pack in the box but I can't resist the urge to empty that box out *just in case* something in those packs are special. I've been lucky enough to perpetuate the myth and did so again last night. I stopped by the hobby shop to pick up a 10 pack of tobacco top loaders & sleeves and four, count 'em – four, binder pages for a few oddball cards Isaac and I have picked up recently. Total expected cost: $2.50. At the counter, I spy two last packs in the T206 box and one pack in the Ginter box instinctively grab them and instantly more than quadruple my bill. Once again, nothing fancy but enough to perpetuate the impulse.
Cy Young SP Piedmont Mini
The second card didn't scan well at all but was a Conor Jackson x/ 10 silk card!
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Topps Million Traded: 2004 Mike Matheny
1957 Topps
Monday, February 22, 2010
Side By Side Auto's: Jaime Garcia
We were at Garcia's first Major League start two summers ago. Unfortunately, we haven't see him since. He apparently pitched with pain in 2008 without telling the coaching staff and ended up needing Tommy John surgery that fall. Brilliant. He rehabbed last spring and started for Memphis down the stretch, helping the AAA affiliate to a league crown. He's a long shot for the Cardinals 5th starter, even though he brings a much needed lefty to the rotation. I suspect that he'll be in Memphis at the start of the season to strengthen his arm and have spot start duties through mid-year. If he's as good as he was last fall for Memphis, he'll join the Cards for the stretch run.
As far as the auto's go, the top two Winter Warm Up signatures seem a bit lazy... J - squiggle G - squiggle. He more than makes up for it with his Big League uniform inscription of 64 though! That was his number in 2008. The current roster lists him as number 54 now.
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Flea Market Finds: Baseball Punchboards
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Topps Million: 1977 Buzz Capra
Side By Side Auto's: Josh Kinney
This could be a fun, albeit short lived given the paucity of auto pulls we have, set of posts!
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Cardinals Baseball Camp Autos
Isaac went to a Cardinals baseball camp last summer to learn the basics. In addition to a day's instruction and snacks with Fredbird, the kids had a chance to talk to the players, ask for autographs, and generally be in awe of these former big leaguers. Did they have any idea who these guys were? No way. Heck, aside from one of my childhood heroes, The Zamboni, I barely remembered these guys! Anyway, these are the autos Isaac brought home on the camp supplied cards. He also had a cap autographed by Rich Hacker.
Click on the pic for the XL version.
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Topps Million: 2004 Bradley Sullivan
From Baseball Reference: Brad Sullivan was a top-flight star in college, but as of 2007, his career appears stalled in the minors.
On the plus side, Isaac said I could have all of the Million Card cards as long as he gets all the Topps Town cards. Deal.
Why couldn't I have gotten this card, which was pulled at roughly the same time (assuming the ticker is in real time).
Topps Million: 1974 Bill Fahey
Monday, February 15, 2010
Topps Million: 1962 Al Kaline
Office Space
Topps Million: 1971 Sandy Vance
Sunday, February 14, 2010
2009 Ginter Blaster Goodness
Saturday, February 13, 2010
St. Louis Cardinals Winter Warm Up 2010 - Day Two
Lance Lynn is yet another 4th or 5th starter type at Memphis. But to his credit, Lynn moved quickly up the ranks last year and while not spectacular, he apparently has great control and manages to get people out. Shane Robinson follows in the Mighty Mite footsteps of Aaron Miles... plus he wears cool socks. How great is that pic on the Springfield Cardinals card (below)?
Mitch Boggs has been wearing out I-55 the last couple of years but did a nice job over an extended stay last summer. He's in the hunt for the 5th starter slot this year. Super nice guy and Isaac was excited to get a chrome card auto'd.
P.J. Walters, like Lynn and Boggs, is another back-end starter type. Josh Kinney was a key piece in the 2006 playoff & World Series bullpen who's been trying to make a comeback. We wish him well. We close this page with one from *my* younger years, Ken Dayley. Dayley was lights out in the 1985 bullpen by committee. One of the few second guesses in Whitey Herzog's career might be pulling Dayley early agains the Royals in the World Series.
2009 Topps Series 1, 2 & UH
Series 1
Series 2
465, 510, 556, 605, 658
Updates and Highlights
1, 8, 11, 18, 19, 21, 22, 23, 25, 27, 28, 32, 33, 35, 37, 39, 44, 48, 52, 54, 57, 58, 65, 68, 73, 76, 81, 101, 102, 107, 116, 117, 118, 119, 121, 124, 129, 132, 140, 145, 147, 152, 155, 160, 162, 164, 167, 170, 171, 182, 184, 186, 194, 198, 209, 217, 221, 223, 224, 226, 229, 242, 243, 254, 257, 262, 269, 271, 272, 283, 289, 301, 309, 318, 319, 321, 327, 329
For Trade:
Too many to list... guess that's what happens when you go after a set with random retail packs!
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Baseball cards still provide a thrill - ESPN
Baseball cards still provide a thrill - ESPN
Nice video with the shop owner. Not sure why ESPN couldn't pony up for a pack of 2010 cards for the photo. 2007? Really?


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Wanted: doctors who are not afraid of the dark
Do you have a medical degree and would like to work in an almost-out-of-this-world environment? ESA is sponsoring a crewmember with a medical background to spend the Antarctic winter of 2013 in the Concordia research station.
Concordia is built on an ice plateau 3200 m up in one of the remotest places on Earth. It hosts many research projects, including meteorology, glaciology, astronomy and human biology.
Concordia is impossible to reach or leave during the winter months and any problems have to be solved by the crew on their own.
To add to the isolation, the base experiences over four months of complete darkness when the Sun never appears over the horizon.
At the moment, 13 crewmembers are at the station and preparing for the long period of darkness. Read about their experience on the Concordia blog.
Space station on Earth
ESA's main interest is in understanding how our bodies and minds adapt to extreme environments, knowledge that helps us to cope with the challenges of long flights aboard the International Space Station and future missions to Mars.
Physiological and psychological data are collected from all Concordia crewmembers during their stays.
Concordia resembles a space station in many ways because of the isolation and stress, so ESA began cooperating in 2002 with the station's builders and operators: the French Polar Institute and the Italian Antarctic Programme.
If you are interested in facing the harsh Antarctic winter, download the 'Call for candidates' PDF on the right of this page. The deadline for applications is 8 June 2012.


text:
Table booking for Ruby Blue Bar
Book a table or reserve an area at Ruby Blue Bar
Group BookingsLarge group bookings welcome
Queue jumpQueue jump and free entry at selected venues
Celebration PackagesFood and drinks packages available
Party PlannerCall - 0203 282 1520 to plan a party
Reserve a table or area
Planning a night out with your friends at Ruby Blue Bar?
Why not book a table or reserve an area in advance?
Special VIP and celebration packages are available for those who are looking to add a little more glamour to their night at Ruby Blue Bar.
Please note, Ruby Blue Bar can get very busy so please reserve your space by getting on the guestlist or booking a table in advance.
Fill in the online form an a member of our team will contact you to confirm your booking.
We endeavour to respond to all table bookings as soon as possible.
Please note that the bar/club reserves the right to entry.
Useful Information
If you haven't booked a table in a bar or night club before here are a few useful things you should know:
- What is minimum spends?
Most tables come with a minimum spend.
What is meant by minimum spend? Minimum spend is an agreed amount the club expects you and your guests to spend at your table.
- Do I have to pay a deposit?
- Some bars and night clubs require a deposit in order to confirm your table booking. The deposit is usually returned to you when you and your guests arrive or credited towards your table spend.
- What is Bottle Service?
- By booking a table you are able to order bottles of spirits and champagne to your table this avoids waiting around for drinks during busy periods and adds a touch of glamour to your night!
- Do we get Free Entry?
- With some bars and night clubs, booking a table may entitle you and your guests free entry and also gets you in without having to wait in long queues. It is advisable to ask this question whilst making the reservation.
If you have any further questions you would like to ask us about booking a table then please feel free to ask using our further information section on the enquiry form.
Make a FREE Enquiry
Please fill in your contact details and a member of our team will get in contact with you shortly.


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Marvels, Miracles & a Mighty Copyright Mess.
Marvelman. Miracleman. Names which sounds like legends to many comic book fans around the world.
And names that bring back decades-long controversy around character ownership and related copyright issues.
Born in 1954 to replace Fawcett's Captain Marvel for the UK market (the "Big Cheese" had suddenly become unavailable to his readers: in the USA, National/DC had won a battle with rival publisher Fawcett over the character, too similar to Superman), Marvelman had been a favourite of British kids for a decade between the 1950s and 1960s. Then it was oblivion, until resurrection on "Warrior" magazine, under Derek (Dez) Skinn's direction. This also led to further publications in the USA on Eclipse between the 1980s and 1990s, under the Miracleman name ("Marvel" was definitely a sensitive word, in the American comics industry).
When in 2001 Neil Gaiman announced the formation of Marvels and Miracles, LLC to clear the copyright status of Marvelman/Miracleman and later sued Todd McFarlane over the ownership of some co-created characters, I tried to make some independent research. I had read George Khoury's fascinating book Kimota! The Miracleman Companion, published by TwoMorrows in 2001 (an updated "Definitive Edition" is due for release in August 2010), and through it had examined some of the information and versions given by some of the main "actors" in the Marvelman saga.
I performed websearches and tried to compare information from that book with data found online. In the end I checked the status of a company called L.Miller and Sons Ltd. (not "Son" but "Sons", but apparently it seems to be a publishing company, so there is a good chance that we are talking of the same Miller company that went bankrupt in the 1960s), which turned out to be dissolved in 1990, many years after ceasing publications.
I came out with a few ideas; first the two obvious bits:
a) Marvelman started as a Captain Marvel clone (some of the characters are identical to their Fawcett counterparts);
b) it was Len Miller asking Mick Anglo to create that clone not to cease publication of some popular comic book titles;
then there are some infos that can be taken out of the Kimota! book:
c) Mick Anglo (directly or through his collaborators) was performing work-for-hire for Len Miller's company; copyright law certainly wasn't his main area of expertise.
d) it is dubious that Derek Skinn acquired anything when starting to publish Marvelman in Warrior. According to what Alan Moore suggested in his Kimota! interview, the rights could still be with the "official receiver" after Miller went into bankruptcy.
Finally, my own little, above-mentioned, discovery:
e) a company called L.Miller & Sons Ltd. (not "& Son" like often quoted) was dissolved in the United Kingdom in 1990. Apparently, nobody acquired its assets.
What conclusions can be drawn out of all this?
If Marvelman is heavily plagiarised from Captain Marvel, it is basically a bootleg of a Fawcett/DC character. It now belongs to DC and always belonged. 'nuff said.
If Marvelman had some level of originality/copyrightability, it was a L.Miller & Sons copyright, created/written/drawn by Mick Anglo's studios as work-for-hire. Anglo never owned anything as he says in his own words on the Kimota! interview.
Skinn sort of bought Anglo's silence through small payments for some reprints, in the 1980s. But certainly didn't acquire any real rights from him or other sources.
If Miller owned the copyright, Skinn should have bought the rights off the "official receiver". A bankruptcy court, since L.Miller & Sons went bankrupt around 1966. Neither Skinn nor anyone else ever provided any evidence to have done so.
Marvelman and its subsequent incarnation Miracleman stayed with L.Miller, as copyrights.
All of the subsequent passages involving people like Alan Moore, Neil Gaiman, Eclipse Comics, Todd McFarlane (who tried to recycle the character in his "Spawn" comics and even produced a Miracleman resin statue) and other people have no value, since all of those "shares" that were traded originated from Skinn. Who had nothing in his hands, in first place.
And of course Marvel acquiring the rights on the character from Mick Anglo (through Emotiv Records in Glasgow) is even more dubious, since Anglo didn't own them in first place.
Miller's company was dissolved in 1990: since nobody acquired anything, according to the British law, its assets now belong to the Crown.
This is what I discovered years ago and tried to get to Neil Gaiman via some Internet forum. I have no idea if he ever saw that.
And I don't have 100% proof that my version is the definitive one: the L.Miller & Sons company I've found might not exactly be the same "L.Miller & Son" mentioned by many other sources. Someone in UK might go and check all of this better, and find evidence supporting my vision or denying it. Provided that some further tracks can still be found after all these years.
One last element needs to be checked; recently, in April 2010, my attention was caught by some bits of the Marvelman entry in Wikipedia (English language). Those bits suggested that another UK publisher who worked mostly with cheap reprints of American comics for British audiences, Alan Class Ltd., had acquired at least printing plates (if not the rights) to Marvelman, directly from L.Miller & Son.
Knowing that in 2005 Alan Class' personal collection was put on sale by UK dealer 30th Century Comics, I contacted them.
Will Morgan of 30th Century Comics was so kind to reply:
Thank you for your enquiry. Unfortunately, you are misinformed.
A journalist asked a similar question last year for an article in Back Issue magazine, and I asked Alan Class at that time if he had any involvement with Marvelman. His response then, to the best of my recollection, was;
"No, I didn't have anything to do with Marvelman. When Len Miller, the publisher, died, I heard that some of his properties might be available, but by the time I got to his offices, virtually everything had already gone."
– those may not have been his exact words (it's been a little time now), but those are certainly his recollections as he told them to me.
No Marvelman material has ever been reprinted in an Alan Class comic.
I think the Wikipedia confusion arises from the fact that Alan Class and Len Miller were active during much of the same period (mid 1950's to early 1960's), and produced similar lines of black & white comics primarily reprinting US material.
There were several other similar publishers (Strato, Arnold, etc.) during the period US comics were largely undistributed in the UK, and while there were links between many of them, Miller and Class were two separate and distinct publishers.
This solves one problem and keeps at least Alan Class and his company out of the enormous mess, but of course doesn't clarify what happened to Miller's assets (who eventually acquired them?).
Personally, I prefer to believe my finding to be the ultimate solution: it would be just natural – and somewhat poetic – that the only true British superhero belonged directly to the British Crown. :)
And since in the meantime Marvel was acquired by Disney, one could anticipate what we will see at some point in the future: high-level negotiations between Mickey Mouse and Queen Elizabeth over Marvelman/Miracleman's rights; that's an eventuality, and it wouldn't be the most absurd bit of the Marvelman legal saga.


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I finally got caught with my pants down
Leaving more on her face than a frown
She spat and struggled and shrieked
And told the world that I'm a dirty cheat.
I behaved like a weakly selfish degenerate
That sent her running for a warm straightjacket.
There was never a better one for me to meet,
We're a pair of blind toddlers crossing the street.
I've been warned and threatened to stop the calls
Or else she'll finish me off and take my balls.
Although this isn't a comedy meant for cheers
The madness has me laughing through the tears.
Hopefully one day I'll grow into a man
And tear off the filthy tights of Peter Pan.
Day Thirty, Poem Number Thirty: "Stupid Children"
I finally got caught with my pants down


text:
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text: Politics 26 June 2008 Thou shalt not hug British society no longer trusts grown-ups to interact with children. In a controversial new report, Sign-up British society no longer trusts adults to interact with children. Since 2002, growing numbers of people have found themselves required to undergo a Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) check simply because their work or voluntary activities bring them into contact with children. This includes football coaches, cricket umpires, Guiders and Scoutmasters, volunteers in churches, charities and community centres, parents who volunteer for school trips or after-school clubs, and members of parent-teacher associations - as well as a host of others whose work is not to do with children, but might just involve having contact with them, such as bus drivers, or plumbers who fix school radiators. This month the BBC calculated that one in four adults will have to register with the new Independent Safeguarding Authority next year. The ISA boasts that something like 11.3 million people will be affected by the new scheme for vetting adults. In the report Licensed to Hug, published on 26 June, my co-author Jennie Bristow and I explore the implication of the steady expansion of criminal-record checks on intergenerational relations and community life. What we found is that the system of vetting adults has taken on a bizarre life of its own. Already the question "Have you been CRB-checked?" has become part of everyday discussion at the school gates. We have talked to parents who were told that they could not attend their children's disco because they were not CRB-checked. Suspicion of grown-up behaviour towards children has fostered a climate in which it has become normal for some parents to trust only adults who possess official clearance. As one manager of a children's football team stated, "I only allow CRB'd parents to drive team members to training." The research for Licensed to Hug indicates that most of our respondents in the voluntary sector accepted that a system of national vetting was now a fact of life. Many prefaced their statement with the word "unfortunately". Some were sceptical about its efficacy; others felt that it was burdensome and confusing. There were complaints about the enormous costs of maintaining the system and the amount of time it takes to process the paperwork. A significant minority of volunteers have been put off from working with children. One volunteer manager of an under-13s cricket team told us of his frustration at losing his "inspiring" coach who simply got "fed up with the hassle and paperwork". Supporters of the new culture of vetting grown-ups argue that, whatever the critics say, the system protects children from adult predators. However, our experience of vetting as a society raises a question mark over the idea that the system "works", either in terms of protecting children from abuse, or in terms of increasing public confidence in those working or volunteering with children. As the recent history of the Criminal Records Bureau has shown, the first consequence of more stringent vetting procedures has been a demand for even more stringent security procedures. This indicates that the effect of CRB checks is less to increase trust in those organisations and institutions that insist upon vetting than it is to fuel mistrust in those that do not. Experience indicates that the institutionalisation of the vetting of adults has unleashed a logic towards increasing the number of people who are deemed to be in need of formal clearance. So, in February 2008, the government announced trials of a new scheme that would enable parents to check with police whether a '"named individual" - a family member, a neighbour who looks after children, a new sexual partner - has child sex convictions. The Home Secretary, Jacqui Smith, stressed that the initiative would not be a "community-wide disclosure", with information given out to anyone who asks. The more this process goes on, however, the more arbitrary it becomes to say where vetting should stop and trust begin. The alleged protective effects of a system of vetting are largely illusory. Aside from the fallibility of record-keeping and technical systems, vetting takes into account only what somebody has done in the past. The most sophisticated system in the world cannot anticipate how individuals with a clean record might behave. Thus, the CRB provides little guidance about people's behaviour in the future. It provides the impression of security, but not the substance. It is difficult to avoid the conclusion that the national vetting scheme represents an exercise in impression management rather than offering effective protection. Vetting measures also fuel suspicion about adults. In that sense, they are not just harmless rituals, but negatively influence the conduct of adult-child relationships. Although proponents of the scheme contend that it is designed to prevent "worst-case scenarios", the very institutionalisation of the scheme encourages worst-case-scenario assumptions to become the norm. One consequence of this process is that adults feel increasingly nervous around children, unwilling and unable to exercise their authority and play a positive role in children's lives. Such intergenerational unease has not made children safer than in the past: if anything, it is creating the conditions for greater harm, as adults lose the nerve and will to look out for any child who is not their own. Perversely, it inadvertently encourages grown-ups to avoid their responsibility for assuring the well-being of children in their community. One of the principal consequences of the vetting of grown-ups is the legitimisation of the idea that it is not the responsibility of the older generation to take a direct interest in the lives of children. The most regrettable outcome of the new child protection policies associated with vetting is the distancing of intergenerational relationships. They foster a climate where adults feel uneasy about acting on their healthy intuition and feel forced to weigh up whether, and how, to interact with a child. Such calculated behaviour alters the quality of that interaction. It no longer represents an act founded on doing what a mentor feels is right - it is an act influenced by calculations about how it will be interpreted by others, and by anxieties that it should not be misinterpreted. In sport, the difference between a coach automatically reaching out to correct a child's position and a coach asking himself, "Is this all right?" before doing so is that the former is a spontaneous action based on a desire to improve the child's game, and the latter is a timid gesture, reflecting an uncertainty about authority that the child must surely sense. In a community group, the difference between giving a distressed child a hug and asking that child, "Would you like a hug?" is that the former is given as an unprompted expression of human compassion, and the latter is a transaction that requires a child's formal consent. Without doubt, children need to be protected from those who may prey upon them. However, the policing and formalisation of intergenerational relations does little to help this. The policy of attempting to prevent paedophiles from getting in contact with children through a mass system of vetting may well unintentionally make the situation more complicated. One regrettable outcome of such policies is the estrangement of children from all adults - the very people who are likely to protect them from paedophiles and other dangers that they may face. The adult qualities of spontaneous compassion and commitment are far more effective safeguarding methods than pieces of paper that promote the messages: "Keep out" and "Watch your back". Adults feel at a loss During the course of our discussions with people working in the voluntary sector, it became evident that applying formal procedures to the conduct of human relations also threatens to deskill adults. Many adults often feel at a loss about how they should relate to youngsters who are not their children. When formal rules replace compassion and initiative, adults become discouraged from developing the kind of skills that help them relate to and interact and socialise with children. This process of deskilling the exercise of adult authority may have the unfortunate consequence of diminishing the sense of responsibility that adults bear for the socialisation of the younger generation. Individuals who talked to us about the "hassle of paperwork" also hinted that they were not sure that working with kids was "worth the effort". And if adults are not trusted to be near children, is it any surprise that at least some of them draw the conclusion that they are really not expected to take responsibility for the well-being of children in their community? Most policymakers, as well as thinking adults, do sense that there is something wrong with the conduct of intergenerational interaction. Of course, the crisis of intergenerational trust is a complex cultural problem, to which there are no quick fixes. It would be one-sided to argue that policy developments such as the national vetting and barring scheme have created this problem, and that removing them would solve things overnight. However, our research suggests that the creation of a probationary licence for adults through the national vetting scheme exacerbates the breakdown of trust within communities, and throws assumptions about adult authority and responsibility into question in a way that militates against people stepping in to help children out when things go wrong. What is needed is both enlightened policy, which puts greater trust in the ability of professionals and volunteers to act on their instincts and less pressure upon them to cover their backs; and less policy: putting a halt to the juggernaut of regulation and behaviour codes that makes voluntary organisations increasingly difficult to run, and volunteers resentful and unsure of themselves. As the government evaluates its national vetting scheme, we suggest that it pays at least as much attention to the consequences in terms of deterring "good" volunteers as it does to the scheme's effectiveness in keeping "bad" volunteers out. However, the single most important problem that needs to be addressed is how society can affirm and support the exercise of adult authority through acts of solidarity and collaboration. The growing distancing of encounters between the different generations in our society can only be fixed through providing adults with greater opportunity to interact with children. Adults need to be encouraged to exercise their responsibility towards the guiding and socialising of young people. That means that we need to question and challenge cultural assumptions that automatically throw suspicion on adults and the exercise of adult authority. Frank Furedi is professor of sociology at the University of Kent. Jennie Bristow is a journalist and the mother of two pre-school girls "Licensed to Hug" is published by Civitas (£5) Subscribe For more great writing from our award-winning journalists subscribe for just £1 per month! This article first appeared in the 30 June 2008 issue of the New Statesman, Thou shalt not hug SUBSCRIBE More


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This nature park near Germany's border with Belgium delights visitors with its romantic castles, magnificent palaces and countless wild daffodils that bloom every spring.
The spectacular landscape of the Hohes Venn-Eifel Nature Park, which surrounds the Eifel National Park, is characterised by large expanses of forest and water, highland moors and mountain ridges. The countless rivers and lakes and the colourful array of plants and animals give the park a charm of its own.
Designated train stations for walkers and cyclists
A good way to get to know this impressive landscape in North Rhine-Westphalia is a discovery tour on foot or by bike. You'll find particularly scenic routes along the former Vennbahn railway or on the nearby Eifelsteig Trail. Designated train stations for walkers and cyclists are an ideal starting point for these routes.
Stone Age caves and abbey walls
Take a step back in time and discover Stone Age caves and monuments from Roman times. With over 100 castles, palaces and abbeys to choose from, you won't know where to start! But as good a place as any would be the open-air museum at Kommern, which features more than 60 buildings from different parts of the Rhineland.
A carpet of spring blooms
A must for horticultural fans are the guided tours in spring to see the daffodils in bloom. Thanks to the Accessible Eifel initiative, people with restricted mobility can also explore the park.
Hohes Venn-Eifel Nature Park
Unique features
مجموعتي أزرار مفيدة لغرض التكبير في المتصفح:
تكبير: +
تصغير: +
يمكنك لدى عارض برنامج التصفح الحصول على المزيد من المساعدة من خلال النقر على الأيقونة:


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The artists seem to be doing well. I see lots of "sold" signs on paintings. The crowds have been steady...but promise to be better (or worse, depending on your point of view) on Friday and Saturday.
It was a pleasure to meet David Apatoff. David runs one of my favorite illustration blogs, Illustration Art. He seems to be as gracious as his site implies he would be. We talked a bit with Charles Vess and Greg Manchess. Charles seems very excited about the upcoming film version of Stardust. He seems pleased that the film makers have remained true to the spirit of the book. Greg will be doing a demo on Friday -- more on that latter.
I ran into Theo Black, Holly Black, and Tony Diterlizzi, of Spiderwick fame.
ConceptArt freinds: Arkady "AmishCommy" Roytman and Tiffany "poise" Prothero.
What convetionis complete without Elvis Trooper.
Friday, July 21, 2006
Comic Con: Thursday continued
The artists seem to be doing well. I see lots of "sold" signs on paintings. The crowds have been steady...but promise to be better (or worse, depending on your point of view) on Friday and Saturday.
Labels: Charles Vess, Conventions, Greg Manchess
4 comments:
- David Apatoff said...
Thank you, Irene but I feel compelled to inform your readers that you look nothing like your portrait at the top of your blog.
- Irene Gallo said...
Ha! Well, I'm afraid that that is the beginning and end of my own artistic talent.
In high school I could draw...then I made the mistake of going to art school. ;-)
I like a game which you need use dofus kamas to play. If you want to be online to play this game, I can borrow kamasto you. When you have cheap kamas, and than you can go on this game. Of cause, when you are first to play, you can dofus gold. If you have enough buy dofus kamas, you will be able to different games.
sometimes you can go to earn the Pirates of the Burning Sea Gold for your own life and you can also get a lot of happiness in the game if you play the game well. you can brush the potbs gold to upgrade and then you are very strong. You think that you want to play the game well and then you can get the potbs Doubloon for your own. you can earn the potbs money alone and you can give some for your friends; it can make you very happy I think. As long as you play the game you can go to buy potbs Doubloon as the rewards in this game.